From a deadly earthquake in Tibet to France bracing for a weekend of protests, and from fresh US warnings to Iran to a first lady-brokered ceasefire in Ukraine, Saturday brought major developments across the globe. Here are the day's biggest stories, all from the last 48 hours.
Tibet earthquake kills 16, injures 76 as rescue teams comb Nagqu
A magnitude 7 earthquake struck southwestern Tibet on Thursday night, killing at least 16 people and injuring 76, Chinese authorities said on Friday, making it China's strongest quake since January 2024. The tremor hit Tangnezong district in Nakchu (Nagqu) in northern Tibet at 10:33 pm local time, according to Xinhua, with the US Geological Survey placing the epicenter about 191 km east-northeast of Nagqu city at a depth of 18 km. At least seven aftershocks between magnitude 4.3 and 5.2 followed.
Officials told journalists that 339 houses and 20 livestock sheds were damaged or destroyed. More than 5,000 personnel were deployed for rescue, medical aid and relief, and over 12,000 residents were evacuated. After three rounds of door-to-door inspections, no one was reported missing as of Friday evening. President Xi Jinping ordered an all-out rescue effort. Rail services through the region were suspended and a section of National Highway 317 was closed to regular traffic after rockfalls; communications were down in some areas, and intermittent snow is expected over the next three days, Xinhua reported.
France deploys 70,000 officers ahead of Saturday protests
France is deploying about 70,000 police and gendarmes nationwide on Saturday as it braces for new protests a week after some of the worst urban violence in years erupted on the sidelines of demonstrations. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez warned that calls for violence and looting were already circulating on social media. Security services estimate 300,000 to 400,000 people could turn out.
The protests began with high school students and spread nationwide on anger over the rising cost of living. More than 2,700 people have been arrested since last weekend, with over 200 jailed, and overnight curfews remain in place in several cities. President Emmanuel Macron postponed a planned trip to Nigeria and Senegal and said unauthorized demonstrations will be banned. Major Paris museums, including the Louvre, will close as a precaution. Separately, a shooting in Trappes on Friday killed one person and wounded four others, including a 12-year-old girl; the anti-terror prosecutor's office is investigating a possible racist motive. Marine Le Pen's National Rally is holding its party congress in Orleans this weekend, with 20,000 to 30,000 counter-demonstrators expected.
Trump warns Iran of "another little Epic Fury" as oil hits $117
US President Donald Trump warned of fresh strikes on Iran at a campaign rally in Florida on Friday, saying "we may do another little Epic Fury, or they'll agree" — using the US military's codename for its war against Iran, which began with the US-Israeli attack in February and is now nearing its eighth month. Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey, said a strike could come as soon as this weekend.
Brent crude rose as much as 3.8% to $117.45 a barrel on Friday before settling at $116.72, its highest since April, as fears grew that the conflict could escalate after the US midterm elections on November 3. Iranian state television reported that seven oil tankers had been struck or hit naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz this week, while the US withdrew some diplomatic staff and relatives from Saudi Arabia amid Houthi attacks. Israel holds elections on Tuesday, and Iran's President Pezeshkian is due in Moscow on October 27 for talks with Vladimir Putin.
Seven killed in gun attack on church funeral in Jordan
Gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in the village of Hammoud in Jordan's Karak governorate on Friday, killing seven people and wounding at least 34, authorities said. The assailants stepped out of a vehicle and began shooting during the funeral procession; CCTV footage aired by state broadcaster Al-Mamlaka showed three attackers firing at the church before charging toward its entrance.
King Abdullah II vowed "the harshest retaliation" in an English-language post on X, and visited Karak on Friday evening in military uniform to check on the wounded at a hospital. Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya described the attackers as "extremists" but said it was too early to tell whether they had links to known groups; no group has claimed responsibility, and a manhunt is underway. Jordan declared three days of national mourning, according to the Petra News Agency.
Israel launches days-long Hebron operation after checkpoint shooting
Israel's military launched a days-long operation in Hebron in the occupied West Bank on Friday after two Palestinian gunmen killed two soldiers and wounded three others in a shooting at a temporary checkpoint early Friday morning. The slain soldiers were identified as Staff Sgt. Ron Yonatan Roytman, 23, and Sgt. Yuval Shai Svilem, 20. Both assailants were killed in the ensuing gunfight.
The IDF and Shin Bet said forces were conducting "precise, targeted and thorough" searches to dismantle militant infrastructure, demolishing buildings described as illegal structures near the site — bulldozers flattened a three-story building in Hebron's Farsh al-Hawa area, with families given five minutes to collect belongings. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a full closure of the West Bank, affecting nearly 1,000 checkpoints and gates, four days before Israel's election — its first since the October 2023 attacks — in which security is a key issue.
Typhoon Champi sweeps past Taiwan, one dead and 527 injured
Typhoon Champi swept past Taiwan on Saturday, killing one person and injuring 527 as powerful winds and torrential rain battered the island, Reuters reported. The sole fatality was a man swept away by waves off Liuqiu Island, Taiwan's fire department said. The storm, earlier classified a super typhoon, was weakening but still packing gusts of around 126 kph near its center as it turned north toward the Chinese coast and southern Japan.
The typhoon knocked out power to more than 167,000 households at its peak, according to Taipower, though most had been reconnected by Saturday. The transport ministry said 242 flights were canceled on Saturday, down from nearly 1,000 on Friday. Northern and central Taiwan, including Taipei, declared a second straight day of office and school closures as downed trees and squally showers hit the capital.
Melania Trump-brokered ceasefire in Oleshky, peace talks set for November
Russia and Ukraine agreed on Friday to a localized ceasefire in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in southern Ukraine, brokered by US first lady Melania Trump acting as "exclusive intermediary," the White House announced. Both sides agreed to temporarily halt military action to let humanitarian aid in and prepare civilian evacuations through a designated safe passage. The White House said the truce begins October 29; Russia's military chief Valery Gerasimov said Russian troops would halt fire from 4 am local time on October 27.
Around 1,700 civilians remain in Oleshky, most of them elderly, with food and medicine running short. Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States agreed to technical-level meetings in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November, with a US official adding that talks could happen within a couple of weeks, as efforts to end the four-and-a-half-year war continue.
What to watch next
All eyes are on France on Saturday as hundreds of thousands take to the streets under the heaviest police deployment in years, and on the Middle East, where the Oleshky truce's disputed start date and the possibility of weekend US strikes on Iran hang over an already volatile region. Israel votes on Tuesday, Iran's president heads to Moscow, and rescuers in Tibet continue working against snow and aftershocks — expect the next 72 hours to move fast.